I am pleased to have been on the blog tour invite list for ‘When I Wake Up’ by Jessica Jarlvi. This extensive month long tour is certainly a mammoth undertaking for both Jessica and Yasemin Turan, who represents ‘Aria Digital Publishing‘.

The blog tour banner at the foot of this post will let you know who all the other lucky sites are, so why not stop by and check out a selection of the reviews, interviews and guest posts on offer.

…

‘WHENIWAKEUP‘

‘Why won’t Mummy wake up?’

When Anna, a much-loved teacher and mother of two, is left savagely beaten and in a coma, a police investigation is launched. News of the attack sends shock waves through her family and their small Swedish community. Anna seems to have had no enemies, so who wanted her dead?

As loved-ones wait anxiously by her bedside, her husband Erik is determined to get to the bottom of the attack, and soon begins uncovering his wife’s secret life, and a small town riven with desire, betrayal and jealousy.

As the list of suspects grows longer, it soon becomes clear that only one person can reveal the truth, and she’s lying silent in a hospital bed…

Clicking on the book’s cover image will link you directly with it’s Amazon listing.

Check out these explosive opening lines, then tell me that you wouldn’t want to keep reading!

…

Hi! I’m JESSICAJARLVI

Born in Sweden, I moved to London at the age of 18 to obtain a BSc Hons degree in Publishing and Business.

I worked in publishing in the UK for a number of years before heading to Chicago, USA, where I edited a magazine for expats. Back in Sweden, I completed a Masters in Creative Writing.

Since 2010, I have taught journalism and media at a local university, and I have spent the last five years as the marketing and PR manager for a British firm.

In 2016, I was one of the winners in the Montegrappa Prize for First Fiction at the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature.

I am married with three spirited children, and although I am known for my positivity, my writing tends to be rather dark!

In When I Wake Up, I wanted to explore the choices people make when the going gets tough – what happens behind closed doors? Most marriages are already subjected to the normal pressures of life: mortgage and car payments, having a career, being a good parent while also maintaining a loving relationship with your spouse.

What if one person’s career is viewed as more important – in this case, the woman’s? What if the power balance is tipped? What if life throws you something unexpected and you have to make a choice: will you be the good girl or not? Will you follow your heart or throw yourself off a cliff and learn to fly?

These were all questions that popped up as I was writing the novel. What if? Everyone’s relationship is different and no one really knows what goes on in another marriage, no matter how close you are. That was the driving force behind When I Wake Up.

Anna and Erik have been married for six years and have five-year old twins. Their communication has broken down and they’re less intimate these days; he’s resentful of her job and she feels underappreciated.

A difficult student upends Anna’s life and her caring nature means she sees it as a cry for help instead of what it actually is: obsession. Her husband is not supportive and so she turns to a former passion, literature. Visiting the library in the neighbouring town becomes her refuge and oasis. She befriends the librarian, Iris, who opens up a whole new world to Anna.

I’m fascinated by people’s choices in life and the events that they set in motion, especially when they follow their gut instead of doing what they’re programmed by society to do. I admire people who are brave enough to be who they are, without making excuses. Anna is not one of these people but Iris is. She teaches Anna to follow her heart instead of always doing what’s considered ‘right’, no matter the consequences.

Although the characters in my novel aren’t based on real people, I have been fortunate enough to have travelled and met many interesting men and women along the way.

I have also met many families and when you drill down, you realise that every family has its complications, even if you try and do everything ‘right’. I’m confident that there will be many more of these complex relationships in books to come!

Don’t forget that Jessica will be visiting on June 20th 2017, with a guest post for my slot on her virtual blog tour, so stop by and have a chat with us then! Meantime, check out these explosive opening lines..

…

Prologue

She staggers backwards, her back ramming into the car door. There is no sense of time. Instinctively, she puts her hand to her head. There’s blood on her fingers. She stares at the dripping redness, amazed. Bewildered she looks around. Did anyone see?

She’s about to speak when another blow strikes her head. Her back bangs into the door again and this time she falls over. She immediately tries to get back up but a boot explodes into her stomach and she screams, or at least she thinks she does; nothing comes out as she gasps.

…

Part One – ERIK – MARCH 2016

Teacher of The Year brutally attacked in school parking lot.

Life-threatening injuries … coma.

No eyewitnesses.

Erik tries to make sense of the words in the newspaper. They read like badly written lyrics. He’s holding Anna’s bruised hand; her fingernails are raw and scraped for evidence. He feels sick, emptied of emotion; he stares at his wife, he stares at the white walls.

…

Clicking on the book’s cover image will link you directly to its Amazon listing page.

This week’s recommendation and blog tour spot request (Jessica will be stopping by on June 20th 2017), comes once again from the lovely Yasemin Turan from ‘Aria Digital Publishing‘, who is determined to keep my reading schedule full, single-handedly – I love it Yasemin!

…

‘WHEN I WAKE UP‘

‘Why won’t Mummy wake up?’

When Anna, a much-loved teacher and mother of two, is left savagely beaten and in a coma, a police investigation is launched. News of the attack sends shock waves through her family and their small Swedish community. Anna seems to have had no enemies, so who wanted her dead?

As loved-ones wait anxiously by her bedside, her husband Erik is determined to get to the bottom of the attack, and soon begins uncovering his wife’s secret life, and a small town riven with desire, betrayal and jealousy.

As the list of suspects grows longer, it soon becomes clear that only one person can reveal the truth, and she’s lying silent in a hospital bed…

…

JESSICA JARLVI

Born in Sweden, Jessica moved to London at the age of 18 to obtain a BSc Hons degree in Publishing and Business.

She worked in publishing in the UK for a number of years before heading to Chicago where she edited a magazine for expats. Back in Sweden, she completed a Masters in Creative Writing.

Since 2010, Jessica has taught journalism and media at a local university, and has spent the last five years as the marketing and PR manager for a British firm.

In 2016, she was one of the winners in the Montegrappa Prize for First Fiction at the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature. Jessica is married with three spirited children, and although she’s known for her positivity, her writing tends to be rather dark!

Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house during the last week. Be warned that Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

Mailbox Monday now has a permanent home, where links may be added each week. So why not stop by, leave a link to your own Mailbox Monday post, oh! and don’t forget to leave a comment for our three new joint administrators, after all, we all like to receive them … Your Hosts for ‘Mailbox Monday’

Recent Posts

First Lines

Having graduated from a school that failed to ground us like it did so many other dreamers, we moped around town concocting none to whimsical ideas of what might become of us in the future. Then one day she babbled out of the blue, “Let’s go out and snag some jobs for ourselves, V. Who’s […]

Random Quote

Popular novelists and their mass readership remain a despised lumpen minority